Chapter 7: Taxonomic and functional response of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to land-use change in central Argentina

SOTERAS, FLORENCIA; URCELAY C.; LONGO, SILVANA; GRILLI, GABRIEL; COFRÉ, NOELIA; LUGO M. A.

Recent Advances on Mycorrhizal Fungi, Fungal Biology

Springer

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2016; p. 81 - 90

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ( AMF ) (Phylum Glomeromycota) are one of themain components of the soil biota. They are present in most terrestrial ecosystemsand establish obligate symbiosis with more than the 80 % of land plants These fungi depend on plant photosynthetic carbon while providing them with soil nutrients, among other benefits. The outcome of the plant?fungus interaction highly depends on the fungal and plant identity and the environmental context. It has been widely documented that AMF affects plant community structure and ecosystem processes such as productivity, decomposition, and soil aggregation. Then, local decline of AMF diversity under land use would have consequences on plant communities and ecosystem functioning. It has been recognized that not only richness or diversity per se but also functional traits of species are important for understanding the response of biotic communities to land use change as well as their impacts on ecosystem processes and services. This trait-based approach has also been recognized as a useful framework to understand fungal ecology. In central Argentina, land uses such as fire, grazing, and forest fragmentation are among the most important environmental changes. In the last 15 years, some studies were performed to assess the impact of those anthropogenic activities on AMF communities. Here we review those studies to analyze the response of AMF to land use. We particularly aimed to assess whether grazing, fi re, and forest fragmentation (a) promote a decline of AMF taxonomic diversity and (b) negatively affect Gigasporaceae and Acaulosporaceae lineages?spore abundance and Glomeraceae remains unaffected as predicted by the C?S?R framework.